Yeah, it seems there are a handful of players with serious special pinball talent. Then there's a group who consistently play well, know the rules, maximize their chances, play every tourney so it's eventually their day now and again. Then there's the rest of us who flip it around as best they can and hope.

At this point, there's no denying Eric is one of those very few special players.

Yeah, that about sums up the groups of competitive players, with the first set a very narrow grouping

I, for one, will freely admit Eric is a much better overall player than I am. The IFPA records show I have beaten him a few times, but in the grand scheme of things, over the long haul, the odds are in well his favor.

He does seem to have a special talent that is amazing to watch. To be in the top 25 in the world that quickly is incredible (the Pintastic results should put him there-he was at 27th going into that event). His first recorded result is December 2015 and he was at 22721 ! The only result before that is CAX in 2004 where he made the final 4.

I see Eric is up to 14th overall in the rankings. This is amazing to me and it also kind of puts to bed a theory I have heard that the rankings and the IFPA rules in general are slanted to benefit the "pros" and keep the rest of us down. This proves that someone can come out of nowhere who doesn't live in Illinois or play in the big weekly league in New York and make it to the big time. I also notice how many people in the top 100 are from over seas and have to remark that the rules do a great job of making this a world wide "sport". I am a little concerned on the new fees for IFPA ranking and how that will effect things, but time will tell there.

Basically to have a chance to move up high (top 25) in the IFPA ranking one has to be willing to travel to locations where 1) Many ranked people are playing in the tournament (ie not provisional) and 2) the tournament has to have a high TGP. And of course the player needs to perform well to earn the points.

The IFPA top 25 threshold is currently 588 points which is an average of about 29.4 points per event over 20 events. The only event in Florida that can generate those values is FPF, and to reach that average a player needs to place in the top 4. (Even 4th in 2016 was only 24 points).

For the HUGE events, top 20 at PAPA would earn about 30 points and top 24 at Pinburgh would earn about 30 points, just considering the 29.4 point average.

I see Eric is up to 14th overall in the rankings. This is amazing to me and it also kind of puts to bed a theory I have heard that the rankings and the IFPA rules in general are slanted to benefit the "pros" and keep the rest of us down.

It still holds water, to some extent. While one only needs 20 tourneys for a full ranking, the reality of the WPPR is that being the most skilled isn't enough to be highly ranked... one has to do all the travel required to attend the big tourneys to maximize points. Those who don't commit to travel will be kept down.

I see Eric is up to 14th overall in the rankings. This is amazing to me and it also kind of puts to bed a theory I have heard that the rankings and the IFPA rules in general are slanted to benefit the "pros" and keep the rest of us down.

It still holds water, to some extent. While one only needs 20 tourneys for a full ranking, the reality of the WPPR is that being the most skilled isn't enough to be highly ranked... one has to do all the travel required to attend the big tourneys to maximize points. Those who don't commit to travel will be kept down.

I think it is a given in any sport that you have to travel to compete against the best if you want to be in the top of the world rankings. Without traveling a player can prove he is the best in his state, which is quite an honor on its own. At that point obviously you have to get to the big tournaments to get into the top player ranking. I don't see that at all as being held down by the system at all. Someone could set records on every golf course in Florida, but you can't be king of the hill unless you compete in the US Open, Masters, etc to see how you perform in competition with the best of the best.